Spinner's End

The summer wind surged through the air and whipped Lily Evans' red hair into her face as she jogged down the sidewalk toward the park hoping her best friend would be there. The last time Lily saw her best friend had been a month earlier just before she, her sister Petunia and her parents left on a month long trip to Italy. Lily loved Italy; it was beautiful and she hoped that she would get to visit Italy again someday. She doubted it; her father had gotten a bonus a month earlier and he used it to take his wife and two daughters to Italy for a month.

Lily ducked into the park before gazing around until she spotted the tree where she first met her best friend. Sitting beneath it with a book open in his lap and his dark hair curtaining his face was Severus Snape. "Sev!" Lily called running toward him.

Severus glanced up sharply. "Lily? When did you get back?" he asked curiosity in his obsidian gaze.

"Earlier today," Lily replied sitting down beside her friend. "What are you reading?"

Severus showed her the book and Lily noticed it read; Hogwarts. A History. "My mum gave it to me for my birthday but I only got a chance to read it now," he said.

"Because of your dad?"

Severus nodded slowly. "But I have some good news," he said a faint smile crossing his pale face.

"Yeah?"

"My mum finally kicked my dad out."

Lily's eyes went wide. "Really? It's about time," she said with a sniff. "When did this happen?"

"About a month ago," Severus replied closing the book before placing it on the ground beside him. "After she kicked my father out, she divorced him and spoke to her parents for the first time in ten years. They were more than happy to help her."

"I thought you said your grandparents didn't like your mum."

"It wasn't that they didn't like my mum," Severus said. "They didn't like that she married a muggle and especially one like my father."

Lily smiled before placing a hand on Severus's arm. "I'm glad to hear that," she said. "I didn't like your dad."

"That makes two of us. How'd you like Italy?"

Lily's emerald eyes glittered with happiness. "It was beautiful. I would love to go there again," she said. "I wish you could've come with me but Tuney threw a fit when I even suggested it."

Severus's lips curled into a sneer. "And you wonder why I don't like her," he said.

"I don't wonder, I know," Lily replied smiling and brushing her red hair off her shoulder.

Severus smiled.

"Lily! Mum wants you to come home now," Petunia said walking over to join Lily and Severus while glaring at Severus. "Snape," she sneered.

"Tuney," Severus retorted getting to her feet. "I should get home. I'll see you later, Lily."

"Bye Sev," Lily said hugging him before she jogged toward her home with Petunia at her side.

"Why do you insist on hanging out with Snape?" Petunia sneered.

"He's really nice," replied Lily with a shrug.

"He keeps saying you're a witch," Petunia snapped and Lily remembered the first time he met Severus when he told her she was a witch after she practically flew when she jumped off a swing and made a flower bloom with accidental magic.

"I am one," she replied.

Petunia sneered at her before the two of them walked into their house. Lily's mum, Rose Evans, walked over to join them with her dad, Aaron, just behind her. "I thought you were going to spend the day with Severus, Lily," Rose said looking confused.

Lily frowned confused. "Tuney said you wanted me to come home," she said.

"We only wanted you to come home so we could give you this," Aaron said holding out an envelope and Lily took it before opening it and her eyes went wide.

"It's the Hogwarts letter Severus said I would get," she exclaimed. "He was right. I am a witch."

Petunia scowled.

"But how am I supposed to get these supplies?" Lily asked when she read the list of supplies that came with the letter.

"You can ask Severus and his mum to take you," Rose suggested as she knew that Severus's mum was a witch because she's met her before soon after Lily and Severus became friends.

"Can I go now?" Lily asked eagerly eyes shining with excitement.

Rose laughed. "Go ahead," she said.

Lily turned and dashed out of the house before making her way down the street toward Severus's home.

Severus Snape was reading his Hogwarts letter when a knock sounded at the door and he glanced up. "I'll get it, mum," he called to his mother who was in her lab brewing before he put the letter down and walked to the door. He opened it and was surprised to find a boy around his age standing on the porch looking deadly pale while clutching his arm to his chest.

The boy gazed at him with light brown eyes and Severus noticed he had scars on his neck. "I'm sorry for bugging you," he said quietly, "but you were the only one who answered the door. I…" The rest of his statement was cut off as he proceeded to faint and Severus had to let go of the door he was holding open to catch the boy before he hit the floor.

"Mum!" he shouted.

"What is it, Severus?" his mother, Eileen Prince, asked through the door to her lab. Since she barely got the divorce finalized two weeks earlier, she hadn't had a chance to legally change Severus's last name to match her own, which was why he still had his father's surname since it was expensive to change his last name to match his mother's.

Eileen walked out of the lab when Severus didn't answer as he struggled to guide the unconscious boy into the house and closed the door. "Who's this, Severus?" she asked glancing at the boy.

"I don't know but he's hurt, mum," Severus replied.

Eileen walked forward before helping Severus guide the unconscious boy to the couch and lied him down. She then pulled out her wand before waving it over the unconscious boy and murmuring a diagnostic spell under her breath.

"It would appear he's exhausted," she said, "and he was hit with a bone breaking curse. He's also sick but I didn't perform a full diagnostic scan so I won't be able to figure out what caused him to be sick."

"Will he be all right?" Severus asked examining the unconscious boy curiously.

"Yes, he should be fine," Eileen said. "He just needs to get some sleep. However, I'll have to wait until he wakes up before I can fix his arm."

Severus nodded. "Do you need help brewing anything for him, mum?" he asked.

Eileen smiled. "Always my little Potions Master, Severus," she said laughing. Her words were sort of true; she has been teaching Severus secretly everything about the Wizarding World and what he would learn at Hogwarts and he enjoyed it, especially when it got him away from his father before his mother came to her senses and kicked him out. "I really do think if you're not in Slytherin then you'll be in Ravenclaw."

Severus smiled faintly. "Anything but with those loud mouth Gryffindor prats," he said with a slight sneer.

"Severus!" Eileen admonished him.

"Sorry mum."

A knock sounded at the door and Severus walked to the door wondering who it was before he opened it to reveal Lily, her green eyes shining with barely suppressed excitement. "Sev, my Hogwarts letter came," she said happiness in her voice.

Severus chuckled. "I told you it would, Lily," he said before he stepped aside and invited his friend in. Lily walked into the house before stopping when she caught sight of the unconscious boy.

"Ah, am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"No you're not, Lily," Eileen said with a gentle smile. "How was your trip to Italy?"

"Great," Lily said. "Sev told me about what happened to your husband and, no offense, but it's about time."

Eileen chuckled. "That's what my parents said," she admitted. "And I'm glad to be rid of him."

"I still can't see what you saw in him," Severus muttered barely loud enough for his mother to hear but Eileen said nothing in response as she turned her gaze to the boy.

"Severus, the boy's starting to wake up but he's exhausted. Will you go retrieve an Energy Restoration potion from my stores?" she asked glancing at him.

"Yes mum," Severus said before he made his way quickly to the lab and grabbing the potion. He then left the lab and handed the potion to his mother who was helping the exhausted boy into a sitting position.

"Thank you," the boy said politely taking the potion before swallowing it, grimacing at the taste and then he handed the potion back.

"What's your name?" Eileen asked gently as she took the vial and placed it on the table in the center of the living room.

"R…Remus," the boy whispered. "Remus Lupin."

"Very well, Remus. I am Eileen Prince and this is my son Severus," she gestured toward Severus who was standing next to Lily beside his mother, "and that's Severus's friend Lily."

"It's nice to meet you three," Remus said politely stretching out his good hand to shake Eileen's, Severus's and Lily's. He then lowered his hand and glanced at the broken one, which Eileen had placed in a sling just before Lily arrived.

"Your arm is mending," Eileen said, "but it would be best to not move it until it heals fully, that's why I have it in a sling. How do you feel?"

"Tired," Remus admitted yawning.

"How did this happen?"

Remus was silent for a long moment as if he was reliving something horrible but Severus watched as his mother waited patiently for the boy to reply. Finally, after what felt like hours, Remus broke his silence. "The village I lived it…it was attacked by Death Eaters. My…parents were killed and my mum told me to run so I did. I…think I was getting chased for a while by two Death Eaters, one was a werewolf."

"Oh that's horrible," Lily gasped. "How'd you get away?"

Remus shrugged. "I'm pretty fast, even when I don't feel good, and I think I lost them when I entered the forest," he replied.

"I am deeply sorry about your parents, Remus," Eileen said gently. "Do you have anyone I can contact?"

"My grandparents," Remus said. "They live here in Manchester but I'm not sure where."

"Do you have their telephone number?"

"Yeah, my dad made me remember it just in case…in case something like this happened." Remus's voice went quiet and Severus could hear the sorrow in their depths and grief glittering in his light brown gaze.

Eileen nodded. "I'll call your grandparents and let them know where you are," she said.

Remus nodded before he gave the number to Eileen and Severus watched as his mum walked into the kitchen to call Remus's grandparents.

"My parents were wondering if your mum can take me to get my supplies for school," Lily said glancing at Severus as the two of them sat in front of the fireplace in the living room. Remus was watching the flames but remained silent as if he was lost in his own thoughts.

"I'll ask her," Severus replied.

Eileen walked into the living room at that moment. "Your grandparents didn't answer their phone, Remus," she said.

Remus frowned. "My dad said they were going to come over to our house in a couple of days but I guess they haven't returned from their trip yet," he said.

"Do you know when they will be back?"

"I guess they'd come back before they were supposed to come over to our house so I guess by the weekend," Remus said softly.

Eileen nodded. "You can stay here for now," she said. "Our house is kind of small so you can either stay on the couch or share Severus's room."

"I'll stay here, Mrs. Prince," Remus said softly.

"All right and please, call me Eileen," Eileen said before she waved her wand over Remus. "It looks like you're healing well but you'll need to rest for a while since you're still exhausted. You also appear to be sick and I'm not a healer so I'll need to perform a full diagnostic scan to figure out how you got sick."

Remus looked down and Lily frowned. Why's he upset? She wondered silently.

"You don't have to," he said quietly. "I'm only sick because I…" He broke off and Eileen frowned.

"What's the matter, Remus?" she asked gently.

Remus sighed. "I don't know if I should be telling you this but…" he broke off as if unsure of what to say.

"What is it?"

"Well," Remus sighed before saying softly, "When I was younger, I was…attacked…by Fenrir Grayback."

Eileen gasped, her obsidian eyes going wide with shock and Lily glanced at her best friend's mum. "You know that name?" she asked.

Eileen nodded. "Grayback is a werewolf," she said softly, "and the worst one of all of them. He bites and infects children just because he can and he's a supporter of You-Know-Who. Was that what happened to you, Remus?"

Remus nodded slowly.

"I see. I think I understand then. The full moon was last night so you're…overcoming the effects, aren't you?"

Remus nodded. "I didn't know you knew about werewolves," he admitted softly.

Severus curled his lips into a sneer but said nothing.

Eileen nodded. "It's not hard to know about werewolves," she admitted, "besides I've brewed the Wolfsbane potion before."

"Wolfsbane potion? My dad told me about it. I wish I had it yesterday thought."

Eileen looked about to say something but stopped when a pecking noise sounded on the window and Severus glanced at the window before walking to it and opening it. A barn owl flew into the living room before hooting and dropping something into Remus's lap. Lily immediately recognized it as a Hogwarts letter and Remus looked surprised to find it on his lap.

"How'd it find me?" he wondered.

"The letters are written by an automated quill," Eileen explained. "So the quill automatically knows when someone has moved." She narrowed her eyes before adding, "All though, I must say that I'm surprised you got a letter considering your illness. I mean no offense of course."

"My parents talked to Dumbledore," Remus said quietly. "Apparently, Dumbledore came up with a way to prevent me from hurting the students during the full moon."

"I see." Eileen's eyes were still narrowed.

Lily was examining the light brown haired boy. "Why don't you open it up?" she suggested. She could tell that Eileen was worried about a werewolf going to Hogwarts but seemed to have accepted Dumbledore's, whoever he was, decision. She glanced at Severus before asking, "By the way, who's Dumbledore?"

"He was the Transfigurations teacher when I went to school," Eileen said, "but now he's the Headmaster."

"Oh."

Remus was reading his letter. "It says here that Dumbledore wants to speak with me after the Sorting."

"What's the Sorting?" Lily asked.

Severus raised his eyebrows. "I told you that two years ago, Lily," he reminded her.

"Oh…right." In truth, Lily had spaced out during Severus's description of the Sorting because she had had an argument with her sister and had been thinking about it. "I, er, sorta spaced during that 'cause of the argument I had with Tuney."

Severus snorted. "You argue with Tuney too much, Lily," he admitted before he added, "The Sorting is when one of the professors places a hat on your head and it decides what house you'll be placed in."

"Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, right?"

"Yeah."

Remus continued to read the letter before glancing at Eileen. "How am I going to get my supplies?" he asked curiously. "My grandparents are on my mum's side, which means they're not magical."

"You're half-blood?" Eileen asked.

Remus nodded.

"I see. If your grandparents don't mind then you can come with me, Severus and Lily when we go to Diagon Alley."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course."

"Eileen's always been generous," Lily said smiling.

"Thank you," said Remus softly as he folded the letter before putting it back into the envelope.

"You're welcome," replied Eileen.

Severus sat down at the table in the small kitchen as Eileen waved her wand and four plates of food floated to the table. Remus was sitting at one side and Lily sat at the other and Eileen sat down across from Severus.

"Thank you, Eileen," Remus said.

"Yeah, thanks for inviting me to dinner, Eileen," Lily added.

"You're welcome," Eileen replied.

Three days have gone by since Remus appeared on the doorstep of Severus's home and Remus's arm had healed fully. During those three days, Remus, Lily and Severus had spent most of their time playing games or talking about what would happen when they went to Hogwarts. Severus wasn't entirely sure if he could count Remus as a friend yet though.

"I talked with your grandparents earlier today, Remus," Eileen said. "Your parents did tell them about your…illness, right?"

Remus nodded slowly. "I've spent the night or the weekend at their house before and one of those times was during the full moon so my parents warned them of what would happen and what they should do," he admitted softly but Severus could tell the boy was uncomfortable talking about his lycanthropy.

Eileen nodded. "They agreed to let you come with Severus, Lily and I to Diagon Alley. Also, since there's two months until school starts, I'll send your grandparents the Wolfsbane potion if I can brew it in time."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome Remus."

"So when are we going to go to Diagon Alley, mum?" asked Severus after he swallowed a bite of food.

"We'll go tomorrow," Eileen said.

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: before you say anything, I will tell you that Eileen Prince is a Potions Mistress in this story and does know how to brew the Wolfsbane potion. Also, I'm going based on what is said on HP Lexicon about where Spinner's End is located.

Darth: yup

Blaze: here are some review replies to the reviewers of the first chapter:

Lupinesence: Yeah, I quite agree. There aren't enough Lily/Remus/Severus friendship stories out there so I decided to try and write one. Thank you so much for your review.

Sjrodgers108: Here's the next chapter and thank you for your review. I'm glad you like it.

graynavarre: Thank you

cara-tanaka: Here's the update you wanted. Thank you for your review

Darth: what's going to happen in the next chapter?

Blaze: trip to Diagon Alley mostly

Darth: short chapter?

Blaze: probably. Please review and I would greatly appreciate it if I got more reviews than I did last time but I am not demanding them. I will post the next chapter as soon as I possibly can.